POULTNEY--Green Mountain College has launched a new sustainability website which describes the College's environmental liberal arts tradition and charts GMC's ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2011. Designed by Green Mountain College alumnus Jennifer Catsos, the site was built on the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

AASHE's STARS program is the only one of its kind that involves publicly reporting detailed information related to a college or university's sustainability performance. GMC's site includes achievements in education and research; operations and planning; and administration and engagement.

"Green Mountain College has a particularly compelling story to tell," said GMC Sustainability Coordinator Amber Garrard, the primary content developer and administrator of the site. "We declared our environmental liberal arts mission in 1995, and we were one of the first signatories of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. We are looking forward to the enthusiastic participation from our students and staff, and watching our sustainability efforts grow on campus through the STARS program."

The College is taking a big step towards climate neutrality in April when it opens a 400 horsepower combined heat and power biomass facility. The new plant will allow GMC to heat its 155 acres of campus buildings by using green woodchips, a sustainable and renewable local fuel source. The new plant will also meet about 20 percent of GMC's electricity needs.